Gudel expands in Ann Arbor

Two advanced manufacturing companies located next to each other in Pittsfield Township are responding to organic growth by making plans to expand at the same time.

Gudel Inc., an international robotics engineering and manufacturing firm, expects to expand into the next-door facility on Runway Boulevard that houses neighbor Creative Automation Inc.

Creative Automation, in turn, is looking for a larger facility - up to 40,000 square feet - in Washtenaw County.

Ariel Sacerdoti, president of the local Gudel operation, said his company would continue at its current building, which is northeast of the South State and Morgan road intersection. Gudel occupies just under 50,000 square feet, and will move into the additional 15,000 square feet next door when Creative Automation vacates it.

Gudel has 60 employees and expects to hire an additional six to seven people shortly. The company, which opened in Pittsfield in 1996, has added half a dozen employees in recent months "in anticipation" of the expansion, Sacerdoti said.

"We've grown the business slowly, but it has accelerated a lot within the last five years, I'd say," Sacerdoti said. "We bought this lot with the intention to grow. We ended up growing faster than we expected."

Gudel expects to use the space to house personnel who will direct the company's engineering and manufacturing processes taking place in the current facility. The move will not involve extensive movement of equipment for Gudel.

Creative Automation, meanwhile, is researching sites for its expansion.

Gerd Walter, purchasing manager for Creative Automation, said the company considered moving to the former R&B Machine Tool facility in downtown Saline - where it is renting a bay - but opted against it.

Walter said the company is looking at industrial properties in Washtenaw County, but declined to specify where. He said Creative Automation's primary reason for moving is to consolidate its operations. The company has about 45 employees in Pittsfield Township.

"Part of our motivation is to get everything back under one roof," Walter said. "It's mostly growth in business. We're over twice as big as were when we first moved into this facility."

Gudel, based in Switzerland, has operations in 18 countries, including China, India, South Korea, Brazil, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom.

But Sacerdoti said the company's business model emphasizes the importance of understanding how local cultural differences affect business relationships. He said it has played a key role in helping the company press through the hardships in the advanced robotics manufacturing industry.

Gudel engineers and manufactures automation and distribution systems, gantry robotics equipment and modules. The company's products are provided to other manufacturing and distribution companies, including military contractors and companies in the automotive and aerospace industries.

Gudel's Pittsfield operation is projecting revenues of $24 million this year, which would represent a 15 to 20 percent increase over 2006, Sacerdoti said. The company's global revenues are about $150 million.

A forward-thinking business model has helped Gudel survive sluggish growth in the robotics industry, which relies heavily on the automotive industry.

Sacerdoti said the company has been diversifying its client base for years.

Diversifying the company's client base hasn't been an overnight task. About 50 percent of the company's revenue derives from automotive clients.

"It takes years to do that," Sacerdoti said. "We did that in the '90s when everyone else was going gangbusters (with the automotive industry). And I think that is paying off today."
Contact Nathan Bomey at (734) 302-1725.